Cabinet Report - Creation of a Peterborough Domestic Energy Supply Tariffs
1. CABINET AGENDA ITEM No.
19th
January 2015 PUBLIC REPORT
Cabinet Member(s) responsible: Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Growth, Strategic
Planning, Housing, Economic Development and Business
Engagement
Contact Officer(s): John Harrison Executive Director, Resources Tel. 452520
Creation of a Peterborough Domestic Energy Supply Tariffs - KEY/16JAN15/01
R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S
FROM : John Harrison, Executive Director, Resources Deadline date :
That Cabinet approves:
1. That Council enters into a strategic partnership agreement for the development of an energy
partnership in Peterborough with OVO Energy Limited (“OVO”).
2. That Council enters into a tariff agreement for the provision of domestic energy and supply
tariffs in Peterborough with OVO.
1. ORIGIN OF REPORT
1.1 This report is submitted to Cabinet to further the Council’s strategic aim of becoming an
environment capital.
2. PURPOSE AND REASON FOR REPORT
2.1 The purpose of this report is to seek approval to enter into a strategic partnership
agreement with OVO for the development of an energy partnership in Peterborough and as
part of the first project under that strategic partnership, to enter into a tariff agreement with
OVO for the provision of domestic energy supply tariffs in Peterborough.
2.2 This report is for Cabinet to consider under its Terms of Reference to take a leading role in
promoting the economic, environmental and social well-being of the area and the promote
the Council’s corporate and key strategies (paragraph 3.2 Part 3 section 3 Council
Constitution)
3. TIMESCALE
Is this a Major Policy
Item/Statutory Plan?
NO
Date for relevant Council
meeting
2. 4. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
4.1 FUEL POVERTY – what is it?
4.1.1 Fuel poverty in England is measured by the Low Income High Costs definition, which
considers a household to be in fuel poverty if:
they have required fuel costs that are above average (the national median level)
were they to spend that amount they would be left with a residual income below the
official poverty line
4.1.2 The key drivers behind fuel poverty are:
The energy efficiency of the property (and therefore, the energy required to heat and
power the home)
The cost of energy
Household income
4.1.3 The simple definition of fuel poverty has always been where the household bill for energy is
in excess of 10% of household income. The average household dual fuel bill (gas plus
electricity) in the UK is approximately £1264.
4.1.4 In Peterborough it is estimated that some 7749 households are living in fuel poverty.
4.2 FUEL POVERTY – What actions has the Council already taken?
4.2.1 In Peterborough the Council has undertaken the following initiatives:
• Using informal action and powers under the Housing Act 2004 to tackle excess cold in
private rented accommodation
• Tackling excess cold in low income, owner occupied properties by providing Repairs
Assistance grant funding delivered by the Care & Repair Home Improvement Agency.
• Collective Switching
• Offering Peterborough Energy Packages, with Green Deal, ECO & Smart Metering
• Access to energy efficiency improvements via the Green Deal Community Fund
• Offering free Private Residential Solar PV generation on roofs
Attached at Appendix 1 is the analysis of current benefits and impacts of the
individual programmes.
4.2.2 Summary of Interventions
The average dual fuel bill nationally is £1264 per annum. The actions taken and in
progress can reduce this bill by between 27% to 42%. The savings opportunities are
demonstrated in the following table.
3. Summary of Possible Interventions per annum:-
Green
Deal Area
(Collective
Switching)
Green Deal
Area
(PEP)
Other City
Areas
(Collective
Switching)
Other City
Areas
(PEP)
Collective
Switching
£207 N/A £207 N/A
Peterborough
Energy
Package
N/A *£137 to £237
depending on
tariff
N/A *£137 to £237
depending on
tariff
Free
Residential
Solar PV
£200 £200 **£200
subject to
city wide
roll out
**£200
subject to city
wide roll out
Green Deal
Community
Fund
£100 £100 N/A N/A
Total £507 £437 to £537 £407 £337 to £437
Percentage
Saving
40% 35% to 42% 32% 27% to 35%
*The savings on the Peterborough Energy Package will vary according to the tariff
available at the time.
**The savings stated for Free Residential Solar PV are subject to the success of a pilot
scheme being implemented in the Green Deal Area
4.3 WHO IS OVO?
4.3.1 OVO is a 'recent' entry into the energy supply market having been founded in 2009. OVO
holds an electricity supply licence and a gas supply licence and carries out the business of
supplying electricity and gas to domestic and non-domestic customers.
4.3.2 Recently OVO has started engaging with councils and communities with the intention of
creating localised, community tariffs. This follows on from OVO's announcement in April
2014, which revealed a plan to democratise the energy market. It called this proposal
"OVO Communities". The idea was to literally put "power" back into people’s hands by
giving councils, community groups and social housing providers the tools and support they
need to set up their own local energy company. Further details are attached at Appendix 2.
4.3.3 The tables below show the position of existing OVO tariffs compared to the marketplace.
These prices are national averages for a medium user (3,200 kWh of electricity and 13,500
kWh of gas per year).
(A) Price
(I) Dual Fuel Tariff
5th
December 2014 5th
January 2015
Extra £958 £937
First Utility £961 £952
Co-operative £1008 £960
N Power £963 £963
Scottish Power £970 £970
OVO £973 £973
5th
lowest 6th
lowest
4. (II) Single Fuel Tariff
5th
December 2014 5th
January 2015
I Supply £434 £432
OVO £453 £453
Extra £449 £432
Scottish Power £444 £444
Npower £448 £448
First utility £454 £452
5th
lowest 6th
lowest
(III) Prepay
OVO have consistently been the cheapest in the market place - £1130 per annum
(B) Quality
OVO consistently scores highly on customer staisfaction. Some of the awards OVO
collected over the course of 2014 OVO are:
Highest marks for overall customer satisfaction, 2014 USwitch awards
o OVO also placed first for ten out of twelve USwitch awards: Supplier of
the Year, Most Likely to Recommend, Value for Money, Best Deal for
You, Customer Service, Billing Services, Meter Services, Online
Services, Green Services, Transfer Process
Number one for customer service, MoneySavingExpert.com 2014
First for overall satisfaction in Energy Helpline’s customer satisfaction awards
2014
73% overall customer score from the Which? customer satisfaction survey 2014
o Five stars for customer service, value for money and bills (accuracy and
clarity)
(C) Summary
As can be seem from the above table OVO consistantly has one of the lowest tariffs in the
UK and one of the highest quality levels.
4.4 STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT
4.4.1 Under the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA), it is proposed that the Council and OVO
will work together to investigate the development of various energy supply related projects
within and outside the Peterborough area. This will be in keeping with the Council's overall
energy strategy, which includes the provision of energy services to Peterborough's
residents and ultimately the supply of electricity and gas to domestic and non-domestic
customers within the area.
4.4.2 The SPA will establish the partnership between OVO and the Council under which the
parties will seek to jointly identify and develop energy projects that aim to contribute to
making a measureable difference to the cost and availability of energy supply to residents
of the Peterborough area. Over the course of the partnership, this may include:
(a) the development of cheaper energy tariffs for private residents and SMEs;
(b) the roll-out of smart meters to residents;
(c) the deployment of OVO's ECO funding obligations within the city; and
(d) agreeing Power Purchase Agreements for energy generated by the Council.
4.4.3 The first project on which the parties wish to collaborate is the provision of domestic energy
supply tariffs in Peterborough.
5. 4.5 CREATION OF A BESPOKE LOCAL PETERBOROUGH TARIFF.
4.5.1 Based on the OVO tariff schedules in the market place, OVO has agreed to create, in
Peterborough, one of the UK’s first bespoke local government tariffs. The tariff will be
limited to Peterborough postcodes so will only be available to Peterborough residents. The
Peterborough Tariff should instantly become the lowest tariff in the UK for pre payment
meters. For dual fuel and single fuel (electricity only), because the market is slightly
different, it should be the cheapest among the larger energy providers, and will also be
among the cheapest in the market overall.
4.5.2 The actual tariff to be put in place will be dependant on the prevailing market prices at the
time of launch which is anticipated to be April 2015.
The following sets out the position for a Peterborough Tariff:-
Dual Fuel
For Dual Fuel the Peterborough Tariff would have been the cheapest nationally from July
2014 through to December 2014.
Based on the 5th
January 2015 data our tariff would have been second lowest at £950 -
£13 higher than the lowest.
Single Fuel
In December 2014 the Peterborough Tariff would have been the lowest tariff and in
January 2015 the second lowest at £441 - £12 higher than the lowest.
Prepay
The tariff would have been £55 cheaper than any other in the marketplace. In addition,
smart meters would be installed (see 4.5.4 below).
4.5.3 The tariff will be jointly branded between OVO and the Council. OVO will perform all
operational and functional activities of the tariff, while the Council will support the tariff
through promotional and marketing activities within the city. It is the Council's involvement
in promoting the tariff and its localised nature which makes the tariff more efficient and
cost-effective than OVO's standard UK tariffs, therefore allowing OVO to offer
Peterborough's residents a cheaper price under an exclusivity arrangement.
4.5.4 As part of the tariff, OVO will provide smart meters free of charge to replace existing
prepayment meters. These will enable customers to top up using cards as well as online,
by text message, using an app and over the phone. They will also provide customers with
detailed real-time account information to enable them to track their usage and ensure they
stay in credit. Smart meters typically save a household £65 per annum.
5. CONSULTATION
5.1 There is no requirement for statutory consultation on this scheme and whilst ordinarily it
would have been preferable to have consulted with Scrutiny prior to the Cabinet decision,
the nature of the agreement with OVO requires the Council to move swiftly in order to
secure the most advantageous deal for Peterborough residents.
6. ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES
6.1 The Council will enter into a strategic partnership agreement and tariff agreement with
OVO.
6.2 OVO will create a bespoke Peterborough tariff which if implemented today would be the
cheapest in the UK. The tariff will not be available for residents outside of Peterborough.
6. 6.3 The Peterborough tariff will significantly contribute to the existing fuel poverty actions that
the Council has already put in place.
7. REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS
7.1 To enable the Council to offer what is anticipated to be the UK’s lowest-priced energy tariff
for dual fuel and prepayment metering to be implemented in Peterborough area; as well as
introducing a highly competitive single-fuel offering.
7.2 The opportunity to enter into a partnership with OVO as an established regulated energy
company within the market reduces the cost and regulatory burden to the Council in
fulfilling its strategic objectives.
7.3 The strategic partnership agreement will allow the Council and OVO to explore and develop
other energy supply opportunities which could assist the Council in reducing fuel poverty in
the Peterborough area and contribute to the Council’s wider strategic goal of becoming the
UK’s Environment Capital.
8. ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED
8.1 The Council could determine not to pursue the Peterborough Tariff and simply continued
with the existing schemes as outlined in section 4.2. However, it would then lose the
opportunity to make a significant impact on local fuel poverty through a direct reduction in
residents' fuel bills.
8.2 The Council could pursue a local tariff by becoming a utility and creating its own tariff. This
has been ruled out on the basis of the significant additional regulatory and other
administrative set up and running costs which would be incurred.
9. IMPLICATIONS
9.1 Financial:
The Council will not pay OVO any money for it to create and offer the tariff since the
services performed by OVO will be directly for the benefit of residents, rather than the
Council. Equally, the Council will promote the Peterborough tariff through existing channels
and resources and will not receive any income from OVO. As such, the Council will be
acting as a facilitator for the tariff.
Any future developments under the partnership, such as a power purchase agreement, may
be subject to separate decisions if the financial implications require it in line with the
constitution.
9.2 Legal and procurement implications:
This section considers:
Procurement
State aid
9.2.1 Procurement
The Council must act in accordance with the Public Contract Regulations 2006 (Rules)
which require there to be an element of competition in the award of public contract works,
services or supplies require competition. Because the Council is not receiving a service
from OVO and is not paying OVO for any services, the nature of the proposed
arrangements with OVO do not fall within the scope of the Rules. Both agreements are
therefore excluded from application of the Rules.
9.2.2 State aid
7. Unlawful State aid occurs where a benefit is granted from a public resource for free or on
favourable terms which distort competition. The Council has obtained advice from Pinsent
Masons, its external legal advisers, on the terms of the proposed tariff agreement
Potential for State aid
The tariff agreement will not provide for any direct payment to OVO by the Council nor a
profit guarantee, both of which would be likely to give rise to State aid
However, under the terms of the tariff agreement, the Council will perform marketing and
promotion at a cost to the Council and a cost saving to OVO. These activities are expected
to be of only nominal value and the Council should be able to rely on the €200,000 "de
minimis" threshold below which a private enterprise can receive aid aggregated from all
public bodies over a three-year period without triggering State aid. As necessary, OVO will
be required to monitor the State aid received by it from all sources to ensure that the de
minimis threshold is not met during the first three years of the partnership. OVO has
confirmed that it has not received state aid benefit to date and will keep the position under
review.
As a result of the Council providing promotional and marketing activities, OVO will make a
cost saving (since it does not need to pay its typical marketing costs), which then allows
OVO to reduce the tariff accordingly to a cheaper price than normal. The value of this cost
saving could potentially be considered to be part of the value of the Council's marketing
and promotional activities, which may therefore increase the nominal value of the Council's
contribution to OVO. This will be taken into account when calculating the level of State aid
which OVO has received.
There is no state aid issue for the overall Strategic Partnership Agreement.
Conclusion
While certain terms of the proposed tariff agreement may give rise to State aid issues in
principle, commercial terms can be agreed between the parties to mitigate or remove the
risks. Nonetheless, the situation will continue to be monitored as the terms are agreed and
the tariff evolves
10. BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS
Used to prepare this report, in accordance with the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985)
None.
8. Appendix 1
Analysis of current benefits and impacts of the individual programmes
Tackling Excess Cold in the Private Rented Sector
The Housing Enforcement Team works with local private landlords to increase energy efficiency
activity in all areas through education and increased awareness at landlord forums and via landlord
communications and through the Accreditation Scheme run in conjunction with the National
Landlords Association. Landlords are encouraged to take measures funded through ECO and
Green Deal to improve the energy efficiency of their properties, reducing energy use, saving
residents money, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving the health, well-being and
comfort of the occupiers whilst potentially maintaining or increasing the value of the property
through appropriate maintenance and improvements.
Where necessary, Housing Enforcement Officers utilise enforcement powers under the Housing
Act 2004 where excess cold hazards are identified following a Housing Health & Safety Rating
System (HHSRS) assessment, to require landlords to remedy the excess cold hazard in their
properties.
Officers are raising tenant awareness that from April 2016 landlords of residential properties will
not be able to unreasonably refuse requests from their tenants for consent to energy efficiency
improvements, where financial support, such as the Green Deal or ECO is available.
Tackling Excess Cold in Privately Owned property occupied by low income households
The Care & Repair Home Improvement Agency deliver Repairs Assistance grants to elderly and
low income vulnerable households where excess cold is identified following a HHSRS assessment
and the household meets the eligibility criteria for assistance. The Council’s capital programme for
heating in 2014/2015 is £300,000.
As part of the screening process for eligibility Agency Caseworkers carry out a benefit entitlement
check in order to maximise household income for elderly, disabled and low income clients.
Following two successful bids to the Department of Health’s Warm Home: Healthy People Funding
in 2011/12 and 2012/13 the Winter Warmth Partnership was formed which aims to tackle excess
winter deaths due to vulnerable residents living in cold, energy inefficient homes. The Partnership
involves the Peterborough Care & Repair Home Improvement Agency, Peterborough Environment
City Trust, Public Health – Healthy Lifestyles Team, the Salvation Army and Age UK. The
Partnership delivered a citywide campaign raising awareness of the impact of cold homes on
health and wellbeing, energy efficiency audits and advice in the home, free boiler and gas fire
servicing and repairs and referrals into energy efficiency funding streams. Although the funding
has now been withdrawn the partnership still exists and cross referrals for assistance and advice
are continued to be made
Park Home Project – The Care & Repair Agency are delivering external wall insulation to park
homes within the City funded through the Councils capital programme for Repairs Assistance.
Park homes are predominantly occupied by households on low, fixed incomes who are likely to be
in fuel poverty due to the high costs of heating their park home.
Effective Targeting of Fuel Poor Households
The Housing Programmes Team have recently commissioned the Building Research
Establishment (BRE) to conduct a Private Sector Stock Modelling Report. The stock modelling will
inform future housing strategies and policies and will ensure that investment and resources are
targeted to the most appropriate areas by the utilisation of data on tenure, the prevalence of
Category 1 hazards (particularly excess cold) identified under HHSRS, the energy efficiency of
dwellings and vulnerable households living in fuel poverty. A Quantitative Health Impact
Assessment of the private housing stock has also been commissioned which will quantify the
health costs to the NHS and the wider society of people living in poor quality, energy inefficient
housing and will demonstrate the health cost benefit of enforcement and financial assistance to
reduce health and safety hazards in the home. Both reports will be available by the end of this
financial year.
Collective Switching
9. Collective switching is when consumers combine together to negotiate a group deal with their gas
and electricity suppliers with the aim of reducing their energy bills. The Council appointed a third
party provider, iChoosr to undertake this on behalf of the residents of Peterborough and residents
of other local authorities as well.
So far the Council has entered into 8 rounds of collective switching amounting to £752K in energy
savings. 6062 residents across all participating authorities have successfully switched resulting in
an annual average saving of £207 per household.
Peterborough Energy Package
The Peterborough Energy Package (PEP) is a unique set of benefits which is an alternative to
collective switching and is more focussed on energy efficiency rather than a straight reduction in
cost of an energy tariff. The Council negotiated an arrangement whereby residents can benefit
from a package of the following:-
The latest promotional British Gas Tariff (these vary quarterly)
Dual Fuel discount
Free ECO Assessment or reimbursed Green Deal Assessment
A ‘Smart Meter Assessment’ / Installation
Nectar Points
The cost benefits of the PEP vary according to which promotional tariff British Gas is offering at the
time of joining, however some elements of it are fixed. These are typically:-
Dual Fuel discount worth £15
Free ECO Assessment or Green Deal Assessment worth between £129 and £140
A ‘Smart Meter’ Installation worth on average £65 per annum in savings
Nectar Points worth £7
The first two promotional tariffs were: (a) ‘Fix and Control’ (with the "Hive" heating control system
that allows customers to better manage their energy usage) and (b) ‘Fix and Reward’ (with the
issuing of a Gift Card). These packages gave overall average annual savings to the customer of
£150 and £50 respectively.
In addition, the PEP has led to over 50 customers enquiring about free home energy efficiency
measures through Energy Company Obligation (ECO) Funding. These are typically loft and cavity
wall insulation.
Green Deal Community Fund
Promoted under the ‘Heataborough’ initiative, the GDCF was a successful Council bid for £3.9
million from the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC). The bid was focused on 11,000
of the City's most “hard to treat” domestic properties (in its Gladstone, Millfield, New England and
Eastfield wards areas); collectively known as the "Target Area" because of the particularly poor
construction of homes there. The main focus is on private landlords, as the Target Area has a very
high proportion of rented homes, although the scheme is available to all households in the Target
Area, and will eventually be offered to other parts of the City. It is intended that under the
programme, households will be offered a holistic package of home energy efficiency improvements
with a primary focus on external solid wall insulation (EWI) but including other secondary measures
such as loft insulation, energy efficient boilers, double glazing and draught proofing. In addition, the
Council has received ECO funding from EON which combined with the GDCF funding is worth up
to £6000 per household. This funding together with a Green Deal Finance Plan will help to create
an average net saving of £100 per household per annum, with some homes achieving
considerably more.
Private Residential Solar PV
In December 2014, Cabinet approved the decision to enter into a strategic partnership with
Empower Community LLP to deliver a city wide free private residential solar PV scheme. The
characteristics of the scheme are:-
No cost to the owner for installation
Free energy generated to the occupier
A fee for installation paid to the owner
Creation of a local community fund out of profits
A fee to the Council out of profits generated
10. Investment returns generated by the Council
It is anticipated that for those homes that take up the offer, this will generate savings of around
£200 per household per annum. Initially, the scheme will focus on the Target Area, where fuel
poverty is higher, but it will also be made available to the whole City as quickly as possible.
11. Appendix 2
Back in April, OVO revealed a plan to democratise the energy market:
OVO Communities. The idea was to literally put power back into people’s
hands by giving councils, community groups and social housing providers
the tools and support they need to set up their own local energy company.
Now, less than eight months on, we are very proud to announce that we
are preparing to launch three OVO communities partnerships which should
begin supplying energy to local residents and businesses in Spring 2015.
The big idea? If the energy sector’s controlled by communities, it will work
better for communities. It appears many of you agree, with over 300
organisations getting in touch to talk about working together. We’ve also
got the support of the Government, with Energy Secretary Ed Davey MP
and Energy Minister Amber Rudd MP, kindly attending launch events for
two of our community partnerships.
Our aim is to establish 100 OVO Communities partnerships across the
country that drive forward innovation in the energy sector and ultimately
serve 1,000,000 customers.
12. Local
tariffs
Take control of
the prices your
residents and
businesses pay
for their energy
to ensure their
bills are low and
fairly priced.
Energy
efficiency
Get priority
access to OVO’s
energy efficiency
funding, which
will be available
via the Energy
Company
Obligation (ECO)
scheme from
next year.
Smart
meters
Help the most
needy residents
by replacing
prepayment
meters with
Government
backed smart
technology.
Local
generation
Sell locally
generated power
to local people
and pass on any
cost savings to
customers.
Plymouth Energy Community
(PEC)
PEC is a multi-award winning, 700-
member strong co-operative, set up
by Plymouth Council, which aims to
give local residents the power to
transform how they buy, use and
generate energy. We believe our
partnership with PEC could deliver
in excess of £1 million in bill savings
for the local community with a
particular focus on savings for the
fuel poor.
Cheshire East Council (CEC)
CEC is a local authority in the North
West of England, covering 169,000
households. The alleviation of fuel
poverty is a key priority for CEC and
they’ll work with a number of major
social housing providers in the area
to deliver substantial bills savings.
Our research shows that
households in Cheshire East could
save up to £300 a year by switching
from a Big 6 energy company to
